There are numerous industrial and commercial applications which require flexible elongated elements such as hoses, cables, wires, ropes and the like, to be suspended from a support structure. As one specific example, it is common practice to mount a spring-actuated reel on or within a gasoline pump housing and connect the retriever cable of the reel to the hose so that the hose will be automatically urged to return to the pump housing when the use of the hose is completed. In other words, instead of retracting the hose into the pump housing after each use, the retriever cable only, is retracted into its housing and at least most of the hose is held off of the ground by the retriever cable, but on the outside of the pump.
Most prior art devices simply employ a collar fixedly secured to a point of the hose and a cable is attached to the collar and support structure for raising the collar, and in turn, the section of the hose to which the collar is attached. Several problems have been encountered during the use of such devices. Since the collar extends transversely across the suspended hose, the force exerted by the hose's own weight often causes the hose to become crimped at the point of attachment. Sometimes, just the act of pulling on one end of the hose can also cause it to bend at the collar and result in crimping. The stress exerted upon the material from such crimping and extreme flexing leads to ultimate failure of the hose.
Often, the prior art devices' ability to pivot or swivel is limited to only one axis. As a result, it is not unusual for the device and/or hose to be positioned so that the hose is pinched laterally, thereby distorting the hose wall. That is, because of the inflexibility of the construction of existing devices, the force applied to the device by the cable often twists or distorts the hose so that it is difficult to handle and is sometimes even damaged. In a manner similar to the kinking of the hose as described above, lateral movement of the hose with respect to the clamp induces the hose to bend against the side of the device which results in kinking or crimping.
Most known prior art devices fixedly clamp on the wall of the hose and allow no radial movement of the hose at the gripped portion. The problem occurs when a torsional twisting force is applied to the length of the hose. As the force is transferred along the length, the device restricts the twisting tendency of the gripped portion. The result is a radial twisting of the hose that distorts the hose wall inward, eventually leading to structural failure.
One practical example involves modem automotive fuel dispensing equipment. As described above, the equipment typically employ hose configurations that provide the fueling customer with extra hose reach by using a hose clamp and retractor/retriever mechanism to loop or coil an additional length of hose near the top of the dispenser. To help maintain minimum air quality standards, many legislative jurisdictions require the use of vapor recovery systems in such fuel dispensing equipment. Such systems require the use of a coaxial type of fuel delivery hose (hose in a hose design), where the fuel flows in one coaxial line and recovered vapors flow back through the other. Typically, such hoses are substantially heavier per unit length compared to simple hoses, and therefore are more prone to having the inner and outer lines kink or crimp adjacent to the hose clamp when used with overhead loop/coil configurations. The resulting crimp in the vapor line, prevents the vacuum assist vapor recovery systems from functioning properly.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved device for suspending a flexible elongated element that prevents crimping and/or pinching of the suspended element, is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, is composed of few parts, and has the strength and durability to withstand the rough treatment and use encountered by the suspended element, for example, the hose of a gasoline pump.